Ticketmaster Brings the DevJam to San Jose!

IsmailElshareef

Aug 19, 2016

As vice president of open platform and innovation at Ticketmaster, Ismail Elshareef has been working on opening up the API capabilities of the company to the world to support internal and external entrepreneurs who innovate on the Ticketmaster platform. We're thrilled to welcome Ismail to the ranks of Apigee guest bloggers!

We at Ticketmaster are very excited to work with our partner, Apigee, to bring our DevJam series to the Bay Area. We'll be holding our seventh DevJam this year at Apigee's San Jose, Calif., headquarters on Saturday, Aug. 27. With over 125 registered participants, we recommend you get your free ticket now!

APIs, portals, prototypes—and beer

A DevJam is a day-long event where developers meet and greet the team, learn about our platform and APIs, use them in real-time, and give us feedback on what we could improve upon. It’s informal and fun, and always involves a ton of beer :). We’ve already held six DevJams across the U.S. and Canada, with four more coming down the pike, including one in the U.K.

Why a DevJam?

DevJams are one of the many things we use at Ticketmaster to focus on the developer experience, or DX. There are three main reasons why focusing on developers is good for the success of the platform:

Feedback Getting developer feedback is critical in ensuring the stability of the platform. At our very first (and sold-out) DevJam in Scottsdale, Ariz., earlier this year, the 75+ developers in attendance unearthed twenty subtle issues in our API in just under 10 minutes! Those were issues our own engineers couldn't see, because we're so close to the product. It’s amazing what happens when a fresh set of eyes looks at our products and gives feedback early in the process.

Community The platform is as strong as the community contributing to it. We’re stronger together and that’s something to be cherished. Building a community that’s passionate about creating unforgettable moments for fans is critical to the evolution of the platform.

Innovation With a self-service developer portal and fully open discovery and commerce APIs, anyone with an original idea can get started on a demo or a prototype right away. This removes so many barriers that can get in the way of passionate, driven, and creative people who want to make their own dent in the live events universe.

Who should attend?

Everyone is welcome! The DevJam is a laid-back, fun event for anyone interested in our tech capabilities. We do recommend a little prep work, though: you should get an API key and familiarize yourself with our APIs. This will make innovation during the DevJam more effective.

The day starts at 9 a.m., with registration and breakfast. We then kick off the event at 9:30 a.m. and walk the audience through our developer portal, available APIs, and tutorials. That takes about twenty minutes or so. From there, developers are free to work on their demos and prototypes, or mingle with the Ticketmaster team and give feedback on the platform. We know it's your weekend, so we want you to have fun in a laid-back environment.

Lunch is served around noon, followed by demos and beer at 4 p.m. The audience gets to vote on their favorite demo and a prize is awarded. Pizza, beer, and celebrations ensue.

We're excited to see you on Aug. 27! And a month later, I’ll be in San Francisco for Apigee’s Adapt or Die World Tour, a one-day, immersive dive into digital strategy and API technology. Register today and come say "hi" on Sept. 27.

And for more of my thoughts on the importance of developer relations and engagement at Ticketmaster, check out this recent blog post.